Materials handling assembly



April 9, 1968 l.. KLOSK MATERIALS HANDLING ASSEMBLY 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 9, 1965 W NNN ATTORNEY April 9, 196s KLosK MATERIALS HANDLING ASSEMBLY 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed April 9, 1965 April 9, 196s L. KLO'SK 3,376,988

' MATERIALS HANDLING ASSEMBLY Filed April 9, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet' ATTORNEY United States Patent Gil ice 3,376,988- Patented Apr. 9, 1968 3,376,988 MATERIALS HANDLING ASSEMBLY Lawrence Klosk, 120 Gale Place, Bronx, N.Y. 10463 Filed Apr. 9, 1965, Ser. No. 446,990 4 Claims. (Cl. 214-515) The present invention relates to an assembly for facilitating the handling of materials .and the delivery of materials to a particular location. It is specially designed -for use in conjunction with work along railro-ad rights of way, and is particularly well adapted for use in such applications where surrounding space is at a premium, as in subways.

When work is to be performed on or adjacent to a .railroa-d right of way materials must be brought to the place where the Iwork is to -be carried out. Superiicially it would appear that the 'railroad right of way itself would be the best 4and most logical route to use to ybring the materials where they are wanted. However, this is not lalways the case, since such use of the railroad tracks involves placing -a track out of service Ifor the length of time required to transport the material to the -desired location, unload the material, and then transport the supply train to a place where it can be switched oit the track in question. Accordingly, on busy tracks and busy railroads it is often preferred to transport the necessary building supplies to the desired location through a means external to the railroad itself.

This is not possible even on conventional railroads where the Work sites are inaccessible because of lack of adjacent roads. It Iis particularly impossible on those railroads which arev normally the busiest and in which putting a track out of normal operation for any period of time is a real problem, to wit, municipal subways and elevated railroads, where there is, as a practical matter, no way to get to the work location except by means of the railroad right of way itself.

The problem involved in such situations is to minimize to as great a degree as possible the length of time that normal operational use of the track is prevented. This is -desirable not only in order to interfere as little as possible with normal passenger service, but yalso because, in many instances, the work must be performed at Ioff hours, with the workmen being paid at premium rates, and it is obviously desirable that there be no interruption lin work because of delays in supplying the necessary materials.

The work situation is further complicated, particularly for subways and elevated railroads, by the fact that the materials in question are heavy, and can be lifted only by means of a crane, yet because of space limitations there is no place at the w-ork site other than the railroad tracks themselves where Ia crane can be mounted. Moreover, in the case of subways, and because of vertical clearance limitations, the cranes which can be transported to the construction site have a limited ydegree of reach, usually less than the length of a single freight car, particularly when the handling of appreciable weights is concerned.

Accordingly, what has been done in the past in a typical 'subway operation, such as the construction or repair of a subway station, is to make up a train of two car-s, on one of which a crane is mounted and on the other of which construction supplies are loaded. No more than one materials-carrying car can be used because of the reach limitations of the crane. This train is then drawn -along a track to the -construction site, where the crane unloads the material from the car which carries it. Once that car has been unloaded the train must retrace its path -to a remote loading station, get a new load of materials (or have another loaded car coupled thereto in place ofthe previously unloaded car), then go back to the construction site and unload, and continue this shuttling until the needed amount of constructional materials have been delivered to the construction site. During lall 4of this time the track in question is out of service. The time involved in shuttling Iback yand forth between the construction site and the appropriate switching point may be quite appreciable, since it is only yat certain usually remote points that loading or switching facilities are present.

It is the prime object of the present invention to devise a materials handling assembly which will eliminate the need for this time-consuming, wasteful and expensive shuttling, -and which will therefore permit the transportation and unloading of large amounts of construction materials to an isolated construction point in an eii'lcient and effective manner.

In accordance with the present invention this is accomplished by providing spe-cial materials-carrying railroad ca-rs which are themselves provided with tracks, preferably having the same gauge as the tracks of the railbed itself. The materials to lbe transported are not placed directly upon these material-handling cars, but instead are placed upon dolleys which are releasably xed in place on their respective cars but which are adapted to ride along the tracks on those cars. While the thus-constituted train is traveling to the construction site the railroad cars are, of course, articulately connected to one lanother in order to permit the t-rain to negotiate curves, so that there are appreciable -gaps between the rails on adjacent cars. However, when the supply train has arrived at the construction site track jumpers are pnt in place between the cars so -as to render the car rails substantially continuous from one end of the multi-car materials-.carrying section of the train to the other. The train will include a crane, which may (a) be Vxedly mounted on one -of the cars of the train, (b) be mounted on the ltrain so as to be movable along the car tracks thereof, or (c) be mounted on its -own self-propelled carriage. At the construction site t-he crane unloads the materials on the dolley nearest to itself and Ideposits those materials where they'are needed beside the railroad track. It then may lift that nowemptied dolley and place lit in an out of the Way position, after which the next dolley is rolled into position adjacent the crane. This secon-d dolley is then unloaded, it is then positioned in an out of the way location, a third dolley is rolled along the car tracks into unload-ing position, and so on. Thus, for one train track a virtually unl-imited amount of material can be brought to and deposited at the construction site in a single operation.

The unloaded dolleys may, if desired, be positioned off the roadbed. However, since these dolleys must eventually be returned to the loading station, they may, after the materials which they carry have been removed therefrom, be deposited on the train to the other side of the crane from the still-loaded dolleys. Thus they may be piled up one on the other behind the crane, or, alternatively, the train may be provided with tracked cars on which the empty dolleys may be deposited by the crane and over the rails of which the dolleys may be rolled to make room for other dolleys. Where, as is preferred, the gauge of the car tracks is the same as the gauge of the tracks on the railbed, the crane may deposit an emptied dolley directly on the roadbed tracks, along which that dolley may be rolled to make space for succeeding unloaded dolleys, the crane thereafter lifting the series of dolleys from the roadbed one by one and redepositing them on the car tracks. The unloaded dolleys may also be deposited on an adjacent railroad track if that adjacent track is not needed at the time for normal railroad service. While all of this may be done by a single crane, it is sometimes desirable to incorporate two cranes into the train with a space therebetween into which emptied dolleys may be placed, the first crane unloading the materials from the dolleys and then depositing the dolleys in that space, after which it returns immediately to the task of unloading the next dolley, while the second crane takes over the flask of removing the previously unloaded dolley from the space between the cranes and positioning it in some out-of-the-way location, such as on the railroad tracks behind the second crane.

To the accomplishment of the above, and to such other objects as may hereinafter appear, the present invention rel-ates to the construction and arrangement of the materials handling assembly as defined in the appended claims and as described in this specification, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

F-IG. l is a side elevational view of one embodiment of the present invention, in which the train is provided with a single crane fixed in position on a car of the train and is shown with track jumpers in position between the cars;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the train of FIG. 1 and showing, 4as an optional addition thereto, a self-propelled crane adjacent to the car on which the fixed crane is mounted;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, on an enlarged scale, of a pair of materials-carrying cars with track jumpers in position therebetween;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the loaded materials-handling car of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a materials-handling car and a portion of an adjacent similar car, with the track jumpers in place;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational detailed view, on a further enlarged scale, showing the dolley wheel block in pl-ace, the dolley wheel being shown in phantom;

lFIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along the line '7-7 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of an alternative embodiment in which the crane is itself movable along the tracks of the railroad cars.

The materials handling assembly of the present invention, as disclosed in FIG. l, comprises a plurality of railroad cars generally designated 2 provided with wheeled trucks 4 adapted to ride over the rails 5 of a roadbed. The cars 2 are provided with oors 6 on which a pair of laterally spaced rails 8 are secured, as by means of tie rods 10, the rails 8 extending substantially the length of the cars 2 but terminating short of the ends 12 thereof. The cars are coupled together in any appropriate manner, as through the use of couplers 13. The gauge of the tracks 8 carried by the cars 2 is preferably the same as the gauge of the tracks 5 on the roadbed. Included in the train, as disclosed in FIG. 1, is a crane car 14 provided with wheeled trucks 16 so that it can roll over the tracks 5. Mounted on the car 14 is a crane 18 having a longitudinally extensible boom 20. As illustrated in FIG. l the crane 18 occupies only the right hand half of the car 14, the left hand half thereof having rails 22 thereon spaced similarly to the rails 8 on the cars 2.

-Dolleys generally designated 24 are mounted on the cars 2. These dolleys comprise a base structure 26 provided with flanged wheels 28 adapted to be received on and to roll over the car tracks 8. The materials to be transported, generally designated 30, are loaded on and carried by the individual dolleys 24. These dolleys are normally fixed in position on their respective cars 2 by means of blocks 32 (see FIGS. 6 and 7), these blocks having body portions 34 designed to oppose the dolley wheels 28 and having concave ends 36 into which the wheels 28 are adapted to be received, the blocks 32 having flanges 38 extending to opposite sides of the car rails 8 and adapted to be held in place by bolts 40 passing through apertures 42 formed in the rails 8. With the dolleys 24 held in position on their cars 2 by means of the blocks 34, the materials 30 mounted on the dolleys 24 are held in place in any appropriate manner, as by means of straps 44 extending thereover and secured to the sides of the oars 2.

When the thus-constituted work train is being moved along the railroad tracks 4 to the work location, the cars 2 and 14 must be connected articulately in order that the crane can negotiate curves. Hence there are, as is conventional, spaces between the adjacent car ends 12. It will be understood that the train is moved along the railroad tracks S by being pushed or pulled by a suitable locomotive. When the train arrives at the work location the crane 18 on the car 14 is pushed adjacent the point where the materials 30 are to be deposited. The straps 44 which hold the materials 30 in place on the nearest dolley 24 are disengaged, and the crane 18, in any appropriate manner, as by the use of sling 46, lifts the load of material 30 from that dolley 24 -and deposits it to one side of the railroad track 5, as indicated by the broken lines 30 in FIG. 2. The crane 18 then lifts that dolley 24 from the car tracks 8 and deposits it in some out-of-the-way location. This may be beside the car tracks 5 adjacent the point where the materials 36 have been deposited, or it may be on the next adjacent set of railroad tracks 5', as indicated by the broken lines 24 in lFlG. 2. Preferably, however, since the supply train must return the dolleys to the loading point, the emptied dolley is deposited by the crane 18 on the tracks 22 located on the car 14 on the other side of the crane 18 from the row of loaded dolleys 24. This is indicated by the dot-dash lines 24a in FIG. 2.

Next the blocks 34 are removed from the second dolley 24 (the dolleys will be designated in numerical order reading from left to right in FIGS. l 'and 2), and that second dolley is rolled along the tracks 8 on the first car 2 until it is positioned under the boom Z0 of the crane 18. The crane will then unload the materials 30 from the second dolley 24, and move that second dolley 24 to an out-of-the-way position, e.g., by piling it on top of the first dolley 24a.

Track jumpers 48 are put in place between the first and second cars 2, those jumpers spanning the spaces between the opposing car ends 12 and rendering the car tracks 8 on the two cars substantially continuous. The same is done between the second and third cars, and so on. The track jumpers 48 are held in place in any suitable manner, as by being received in preformed grooves in the car floors 6, through the use of bolts, or in any other manner. Thus as the blocks 32 are removed from the third, fourth, fifth and sixth dolleys 24, and so on, those dolleys 24 -may be rolled along the car tracks 8 and the track jumpers 48 to positions where they can be unloaded by the crane 18 and then lifted and removed from the unloading station by the crane 18 and deposited elsewhere.

After all of the dolleys 24 have been unloaded the train is ready to return to the loading station. If the dolleys have been piled upon one another on the car 14, they need merely be held in place against accidental shifting, as through the use of blocks 34 for the lowermost dolley 24 and straps 44 to prevent the dolley pile from toppling, and the train is ready to return once the track jumpers 48 are removed. Alternatively, the crane can redeposit the dolleys 24 one by one on the car tracks 8, from which they can be rolled to their initial position and blocked in place.

It will be appreciated from the above that for a single train trip a virtually unlimited amount of materials 30 may be transported and deposited in place at the construction site, thus requiring that the railroad track 5 be out of operation for a truly minimal period of time. lf some of the materials 30 are to be deposited at one point and others of the materials 30 are to be deposited at another point, the entire train may be moved as required in order to bring the crane 18 to its desired position, without any appreciable delay in the unloading operation. Indeed, where the desired deposition points for the materials 30 are relatively close to one another, the train v may be .shifted at the same time that t-he dolleys 24 are being shifted in position on the train, so that no delay whatsoever is involved.

. Particularly when the train comprises a large number of materials-carrying cars 2, and consequently a large number of dolleys 24, it may be impractical or undesirable to pile the unloaded dolleys on one another. Where an adjacent railroad car track 5' is available the dolleys may, as has been indicated, be deposited thereon and rolled therealong to make space for new dolleys 24 as they are unloaded. If the adjacent track S' is not available, the crane 1-8 may deposit the doleys directly on the railroad track 5 lbehind (to the left as viewed in FIG. 1) of the train, the dolleys 24 then being rolled along the track 5 to make space for additional dolleys as they are unloaded. It may be, however, that the crane 1S may not be able to extend its boom 20 sufficiently to accomplish this. In such an event, and as illustrated in FIG. 2, a second crane 18', mounted on a second crane car 14, may be located at the left hand end of the crane car 14, the length of the crane car 14 being appreciable shorter than that of the crane car 14. The crane 18 may, as indicated in FIG. 2, lift an unloaded dolley 24a from the tracks 22 on the crane car 14 and deposit it on the railroad tracks 5. When the unloading of the train is completed, the dolleys 24a may be reloaded onto the train by reversing the process. The shifting of the dolleys 24a from the crane tracks 22 to the railroad tracks 5 can be carried out by the second crane 18 while the main crane 18 is continuing with its materials-unloading function, thus increasing the eiiiciency of operation of the assembly in question. The crane car 14' of abbreviated length could, of course, be used instead of the crane car 14, but in that event the possibility of piling up the emptied dolleys on the train, so that the train could be removed as soon as materials-unloading is completed and without having to wait for the reloading of the dolleys onto the train, would be lost.

The crane car 14 (and 14 if used) can, if desired, be retained at the work site while the materials-carrying cars 2 are returned to the loading station if a prompt return of loaded cars 2 is expected.

Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the train could consist of one or more cars 2a on the other side of the crane car 14a from the cars 2 which carry the loaded dolleys 24, the cars 2a having car tracks 8. The crane 18 could either deposit the unloaded dolleys onto the car tracks 8 of the cars 2a, or the tracks 22 of the crane car 14 could, when the train is stationary, be linked to the car tracks 8 on the cars 2a by jumpers 48, so that unloaded dolleys deposited onto the tracks 22 could be rolled therefrom, thus leaving the tracks 22 ready for the reception of the next-unloaded dolley 24.

FIG. 8 also illustrates another alternative, in which the crane car 14a is provided with tracks 22a which are integral extensions of the tracks 22, the combined tracks 22, 22a extending for substantially the full length of the crane car 14a. The crane 18a is mounted on wheeled support 19 which is movable along the tracks 22, 22a and along the tracks 8 on the cars 2. Preferably the crane 18a is provided with suitable drive so that it is self-propelled in that over-track movement. With this arrangement the crane 18a may start at one end of the train, unload the materials 30 on the dolley 24 nearest it, lift up that dolley, move along the car tracks, deposit the dolley on the car tracks behind it, unload the next dolley, and repeat the process, thus moving to the loaded dolleys in sequence and without requiring that any of those dolleys be moved to it. While the crane 18a is thus operating, the entire train may simultaneously be shifted in position so that the individual -material loads 30 may be deposited beside the railroad tracks 5 in the desired location. With this arrangement, once the last dolley has been unloaded all that need be done is remove the track jumpers 48 and the train is ready to return to the loading station.

While the crane car 14, 14 or 14a has been disclosed as being a coupled part of the supply train, it may, if desired, be a self-propelled car which can travel over the railroad tracks 5 with or independently of the supply train. While FIG. 2 discloses the depositing of the unloaded materials 30 on one side only of the railroad track 5, these materials could be deposited on the other side of the railroad track 5, or on both sides thereof, as desired. Indeed, one main attribute of the assembly of the present invention is the great iiexibility which it provides in operation, while at the same time maximizing the quantity of materials which can be brought to a construction site in a single train trip, thus making for a high degree of eiciency in operation and greatly minimizing the time that the railroad track 5 used for materials transportation is out of normal service. Many other variations in the mode of use of the assembly of the present invention, and many variations in the specilic structure, details and arrangement thereof, may also be carried out, all without departing from the spirit of the invention as deiined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A materials handling assembly comprising a plurality of open-ended railroad cars coupled together in endto-end relationship with opposing car ends separate from one another to define a train which rides over a tracked roadbed, each of said cars comprising a floor having car tracks thereon, removable track jumpers removably secured to said cars, extending between opposing car ends and joining the car tracks on adjacent cars to produce substantially continuous car tracks along said train, and a plurality of materials-carrying dolleys riding on and movable along said car tracks, means for selectively securing said dolleys in place on and permitting said dolleys to move along said car tracks, said dolleys being movable from carto car when said track jumpers are in place, and, in combination therewith, crane means operatively mounted on said track roadbed for movement thereover with said train, said crane means being elective to engage a dolley on la car adjacent said crane means and to engage Vthe materials by said dolley and to lift said materials and said dolley from said car and deposit them elsewhere, and a second crane means operatively mounted on said track roadbed for movement thereover with said train, said second crane means being spaced from said first mentioned crane means in the direction of the length of said roadbed by a distance greater than the length of a dolley, said first crane means being effective to place an unloaded dolley in said space between itself and said second crane means, and said second crane means being effective to lift said unloaded dolley from said space and place it on tracks on the other side of said second crane means from said space.

2. A materials handling assembly comprising a plurality of open-ended railroad oars coupled together in end-to-end relationship with opposing car ends separate from one another to define a train which rides over a tracked roadbed, each of said oars comprising a iioor having car tracks thereon, removable track jumpers removably secured to said cars, extending between opposing car ends and joining the car tracks on adjacent cars to produce substantially continuous car tracks along said train, and a plurality of materials-carrying dolleys riding on and movable along said car tracks, means for selectively securing said dolleys in place on and permitting said dolleys to move along said car tracks, said dolleys being movable from carto car when said track jumpers are in place, and, in combination therewith, crane means operatively mounted on said track roadbed for movement thereover with said train, said crane means being effective to engage a dolley on a car adjacent said crane means and to engage the materials carried by said dolley and to lift said materials and said dolley from said car and deposit them elsewhere, and a second crane means operatively mounted on said track roadbed for movement thereover with said train, said second crane means being spaced from said first mentioned crane means in the direction of the length of said roadbed by a distance greater than the length of a dolley, a car on the other side of said second crane means from said space normally being free of dolleys, said rst crane means being eiective to place an unloaded dolleys in said space between itself and said second crane means, and said second crane means being effective to lift said unloaded dolley from said space and place it on tracks on said car n the other side of said second crane means from said space.

3. A materials handling assembly comprising a plurality of open-ended railroad cars coupled together in end-toend relationship with opposing car ends separate from one another to deiine a train which rides over a tracked roadbed, each of said cars comprising a oor having car tracks thereon, removable track jumpers removably secured to said cars, extending between opposing car ends and joining the car tracks on adjacent cars to produce substantially continuous car tracks along said train, and a plurality of materials-carrying dolleys riding on and movable along said car tracks, means for selectively securing said dolleys in place on and permitting said dolleys to move along said car tracks, said dolleys being movable from car to car when said track jumpers are in place, and, in combination therewith, a crane car operatively mounted on said track roadbed for movement thereover with said train crane means on said crane car, said crane means eing effective to engage a dolley on a car adjacent said crane car and to engage the materials carried by said dolley and to lift said materials and said dolley from said car and deposit them elsewhere, said crane car and crane means being located intermediate the length of said Jtrain, cars on one side of said crane car having said materialscarrying dolleys thereon, a car on the other side of said crane car normally being free of dolleys and adapted to receive on the car tracks thereof the dolleys unloaded by said crane.

4. A materials handling assembly comprising a plurality of open-ended railroad cars coupled together in end-toend relationship with opposing car ends separate from one another to define a train which rides over a tracked roadbed, each of said cars comprising a floor having car tracks thereon, removable track jumpers removably secured to said cars, extending between opposing car ends and joining the car tracks on adjacent cars to produce substantially continuous car tracks along said train, and a plurality of materials-carrying dolleys riding on and movable along said car tracks, means for selectively securing said dolleys in place on and permitting said dolleys to move along said car tracks, said dolleys being movable from carto car when said track jumpers are in place, and, in combination therewith, a crane car operatively mounted on said track roadbed for movement thereover with said train, crane means on said crane car, said crane means being effective to engage a dolley on a car adjacent said crane car and to engage the materials carried by said dolley and to lift said materials and said dolley from said car and deposit them elsewhere, said crane car and crane means -being located intermediate the length of said train and being effective to deposit said dolley-carried materials to one side of the roadbed over which said train rides, car on one side of said crane car having said materials-carrying dolleys thereon, a car on the other side of said crane car nomally being free of dolleys and adapted to receive on the car tracks thereof the dolleys unloaded by said crane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,918,419 7/1933 Needham 214-38 2,088,122 7/l937 Taylor 214-75 FOREIGN PATENTS 487,703 12/1929 German.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

A. J. MAKAY, Examiner. 

1. A MATERIALS HANDLING ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF OPEN-ENDED RAILROAD CARS COUPLED TOGETHER IN ENDTO-END RELATIONSHIP WITH OPPOSING CAR ENDS SEPARATE FROM ONE ANOTHER TO DEFINE A TRAIN WHICH RIDES OVER A TRACKED ROADBED, EACH OF SAID CARS COMPRISING A FLOOR HAVING CAR TRACKS THEREON, REMOVABLE TRACK JUMPERS REMOVABLY SECURED TO SAID CARS, EXTENDING BETWEEN OPPOSING CAR ENDS AND JOINING THE CAR TRACKS ON ADJACENT CARS TO PRODUCE SUBSTANTIALLY CONTINUOUS CAR TRACKS ALONG SAID TRAIN, AND A PLURALITY OF MATERIALS-CARRYING DOLLEYS RIDING ON AND MOVABLE ALONG SAID CAR TRACKS, MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY SECURING SAID DOLLEYS IN PLACE ON AND PERMITTING SAID DOLLEYS TO MOVE ALONG SAID CAR TRACKS, SAID DOLLEYS BEING MOVABLE FROM CAR TO CAR WHEN SAID TRACK JUMPERS ARE IN PLACE, AND, IN COMBINATION THEREWITH, CRANE MEANS OPERATIVELY MOUNTED ON SAID TRACK ROADBED FOR MOVEMENT THEREOVER WITH SAID TRAIN, SAID CRANE MEANS BEING EFFECTIVE TO ENGAGE A DOLLEY ON A CAR ADJACENT SAID CRANE MEANS AND TO ENGAGE THE MATERIALS BY SAID DOLLEY AND TO LIFT SAID MATERIALS AND SAID DOLLEY FROM SAID CAR AND DEPOSIT THEM ELSEWHERE, AND A SECOND CRANE MEANS OPERATIVELY MOUNTED ON SAID TRACK ROADBED FOR MOVEMENT THEREOVER WITH SAID TRAIN, SAID SECOND CRANE MEANS BEING SPACED FROM SAID FIRST MENTIONED CRANE MEANS IN THE DIRECTION OF THE LENGTH OF SAID ROADBED BY A DISTANCE GREATER THAN THE LENGTH OF A DOLLEY, SAID FIRST CRANE MEANS BEING EFFECTIVE TO PLACE AN UNLOADED DOLLEY IN SAID SPACE BETWEEN ITSELF AND SAID SECOND CRANE MEANS, AND SAID SECOND CRANE MEANS BEING EFFECTIVE TO LIFT SAID UNLOADED DOLLEY FROM SAID SPACE AND PLACE IT ON TRACKS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID SECOND CRANE MEANS FROM SAID SPACE. 